Beast
by InkMystic
Summary: Naruto finds that life is better outside the village so he makes a life for himself outside Konoha. Years later he encounters a leaf nin which leads Konoha to him.
1. Living off the Land

**Beast**

**Living off the Land**

A six and a half year old boy was scavenging around the forests of the leaf picking up anything edible that he could get his hands on. As the sun was setting this child clad in a short-sleeved black shirt with a red swirl on the chest, orange shorts and blue sandals; Uzumaki Naruto was making his way home to his less than meager living arrangements. Naruto greeted the gate guards on his way in Izumo and Kotetsu were fairly nice to him compared to the rest of the village. Unfortunately that was where the pleasantries ended once he was through the gates he made his way home as discreetly as possible, taking the back allies instead of the main roads to avoid confrontations with his tormentors.

Once he reached his place he darted out of the alley and around the corner and ran up the stairs to his top floor apartment. The young blonde barreled through the door and shut it behind him; he had given up on locking up while ago it never stopped the villagers from trashing the place. Taking a look around the place he made his way over to his kitchen/dining room to the left and dumped the two bags he had gathered out onto a small table

Looking over what he'd gathered he took account of the different plants and berries. He had managed to round up a few bunches of field pennycress, clovers, dandelions, fireweed, purslane, white mustard, and wood sorrel. Alongside the plants he found a few cups worth of blueberries and blackberries which were in season during the summer months. It had taken him the entire day, but now he had enough to sustain himself for a few more days until the old man came by with his monthly allowance.(**AN: **If anyone's curious I looked all of this up on google)

If you wondering why Naruto has to forage in the woods for food, or how he even knows how to it's because of his status within the village. For whatever reason most of the village hates him, he suffered plenty of horrible beatings in his short life the worst of which were on his birthday. Since then Naruto learned to stay as far away from the villagers as possible, especially shinobi. Most of the village hated him or outright refused to acknowledge his existence. What little food he could get from within the village was usually severely overpriced and barely edible if that. Ichiraku Ramen was probably the only place he could get something to eat at a fair price.

**HUGE Flashback**

He liked the ramen duo; the father and daughter were like the family he never knew. The old chef he considered like an uncle and his daughter like an older sister. Being the pariah he was he didn't visit too often as it was bad for business. On his last birthday he spent the last of his allowance on a breakfast of ramen and disappeared for the rest of the day going into hiding to avoid the mobs. Trouble is that the villagers got themselves worked into a frenzy trying to find him; they had totally trashed his apartment and searched the entire village for him. Naruto finally made his back into the village after about three days; he had hid out behind the Hokage monument since people rarely went up there.

When he got back he found people still celebrating, there had always been a festival on his birthday to commemorate the day the fourth defeated the Kyuubi no kitsune. This left him confused, but he dismissed in favor of getting home; he was absolutely starving and wanted to see if he could find anything to eat there. Turning away from the merry crowd he made his way to his apartment trudging along the entire way. Naruto stopped about fifteen minutes later, his breath hitched; having spent pretty much his entire conscious life trying to avoid them he developed the ability to sense chakra and he could feel shinobi level chakra signatures approaching.

Around the corner were two drunken shinobi, chuckling to themselves "Can you believe it, the demon's finally gone." One drunken bastard exclaimed; his uniform completely disheveled Chuunin vest hanging off his shoulders; his collar torn with beer stains all over. The other one looking just as bad as the first with some stubble blooming from his chin laughed heartily at that "Guess the damned fox finally got the message, wonder what ditch he ended up in?" "Who cares, hope he's dead."

Naruto panicked as turned back the way he came, making a run for it. Too bad three days without food left him worn out and even drunk these men were trained shinobi. Spotting the familiar mop of spikey blonde hair they chased him right back into the partying crowd of villagers and soon a mob ensued, they chased him out of the village tossing weapons at him. A few ninja had finally caught up to him and bound him to a tree with ninja wire and proceeded with their torture. Naruto was beaten with devastating blows until finally something snapped.

He would have cried out if they hadn't already crushed his larynx, he could feel his lungs burning for air. The blonde wouldn't last much longer if things went on like this and it only got worse as the cutting started. Blades clumsily tearing into his trying to bleed him out only succeeding in causing him more pain as his captures were too drunk or angry, most likely a combination of both to do it properly. In hindsight it may have been a blessing as his body finally shutdown and need much less air. Eventually he was left there to die.

When Naruto woke up it was in the dead of night a day later, only the stars allowing him any sort of vision at the moment though hazy. Remembering most of what he'd endured a few minutes later he sighed to himself. He had planned to avoid all this and failed now here he was bound in the middle of the woods hungry, cold, and in pain. However, he found one silver lining, his bindings were loose. In their inebriated and emotional states his tormentors were sloppy this year, he had just enough leverage to shake himself loose; survival the only thing on his mind. _'…must…find…food…'_

About four hours later he was free just as the sun was rising, but his freedom came at a price. Thrashing around for so long had spent the last of his energy he could barely crawl along the ground, determined to at least satisfy his stomach he dragged himself around for a few hours stuffing whatever seemingly edible things he could find in his mouth until he spotted a bush with dark berries. Once he had made his way over to the bush he picked a few and shoved them in his mouth. Naruto immediately regretted the decision as he started foaming at the mouth before passing out again; he had just consumed deadly nightlock berries.

Inside the seal the Kyuubi as he went to work neutralizing the poison as best he could, which was going fairly well because the seal had weakened due to his containers' current state **'The way things are going the kit won't live to see puberty'**. The chakra spike however attracted the attention of Inuzuka Hana six year old heiress of the Inuzuka clan and aspiring kunoichi/ vet taking her dogs out for a run. Hana was immediately on alert and decided to check it out, her dogs right behind her 'There no training grounds near hear, and I'm no sensor. I shouldn't be detecting this much chakra all the way out here.' What she found left her breathless a boy about her age beaten and blood lying on the ground covered in dirt and debris glowing with a red hue. Her dogs the Haimaru triplets still pups sniffed around a bit curious, cautiously approaching the boy's body before backing away as they caught the scent of the nightlock bush. Hana had snapped out of it and noticed the bush, realizing what it was being an aspiring vet and part of a ninja clan she was warned of such things even this early on in life. As the glow died down she checked to see if he was breathing only to find him barely doing so, wheezing with each breath. She dragged him up and hurried back to Konoha as quickly as she could, supporting him with one arm over her shoulder.

* * *

It seemed Naruto ordeal was far from over though. Hana's arrival drew the attention of many of the villagers; by the time she reached the village she was exhausted. The six year old just wasn't used to carrying another person and covering such a distance so quickly ninja clan or not, to be fair when she'd found the blonde she was about to turn back realizing she'd gone too far. Hana smiled as citizens of the leaf village crowd around her. That smile fell as they started pelting her with rocks or anything else they could find "get that trash out of here!" one of them yelled. "Yeah, that demon's not welcome in our village!"

Sensing the hostilities the Haimaru triplets attacked, and chaos broke out as villagers began to get physical ganging up on the pups and small children. The commotion attracted the ANBU who immediately reported to the third. "Hokage-sama, it seems there's a riot going on involving Naruto." Reported a weasel masked man, the old Sarutobi was up in a flash heading out into the village 'finally found him, where have you been all this time Naruto?'

Hana was completely thrown off, she had no idea what was going on or how to deal with the situation. Luckily she didn't have to, "What is the meaning of this!?" the third's voice called out from the edge of the crowd. Everything went still and the crowd parted to allow him and the ANBU through, Hana was wary for a moment after what just happened she was questioning who she should trust. Sarutobi approached them with an elderly smile, that smile faltered when he saw the condition Naruto was in "What happened to him?" he asked. The Inuzuka heiress shook off her anxiety and answered quickly "I found him like this when I was out walking my dogs, he needs medical attention."

Any further questioning was put off for later and so they rushed off to get Naruto some treatment.

**Mindscape**

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a sewer like environment "Where am I?" he wondered. He looked around the place and decided to take off into one direction, it wouldn't be the first time he ended up somewhere strange. Eventually he found himself before a huge cage. **"So we finally meet kit." **The fox said. The blonde stood stock still trying to process what's going on. He remembered his earlier run in with those two shinobi and things clicked. Naruto stared into the fox's eyes and spoke as evenly as possible "So…Kyuubi…"

There was an awkward silence before the demon fox finally spoke up **"…that was…a pretty decent reaction…better than I expected." **As the Kyuubi spoke Naruto composed himself, "So what happens now?" he asked to which the nine tails replied **"Things have to change, your life is at risk everyday you're in this village; to survive you have to change." **Naruto couldn't deny what the fox said, but something was troubling him.

"Why does it matter to you?"

**"I have been bound to the Uzumaki for generations; they were a wise and honorable clan. They respected me despite my imprisonment.**

"I had a clan!?"

**"Yes, they were feared for their power and eventually the Nations ganged up on them in their native Uzushio; you may well be the last of the Uzumaki."**

"So, how does this work, I doubt the villagers would just sit by and let me be."

**"I will teach you the ways of the Uzumaki through my memories of you mother and great grandmother, now it is time for you to go the old monkey waits."**

**Outside World – Hospital Room**

Naruto woke with a start recalling Kyuubi's last words, he would finally learn of his mother and family. Once he calmed down he grimaced at the sudden jolt of pain. "Lie still Naruto-kun you're in no condition to move, what happened to you?" The third said. Naruto turned to the right with a grin "Hey old man, don't you have some paperwork to catch up on?" he asked. Sarutobi grumbled his shoulders slumping a bit before he returned the matter at hand "Where have you been Naruto?" The whiskered blonde let out a mirthless chuckle "I just decide to break birthday tradition and avoid the near death experience, doesn't seem to have worked out though." He said gazing at the ceiling.

Hiruzen flinched at that but was bought out of it when the fourth progeny continued "How'd I get here and how long do I have to stay?" Naruto questioned. The Hokage's disposition brightened at the question and answered with a smile "You were found by a young Inuzuka they carried you back to the village, now what happened out there?" With a sigh Naruto answered "When I came out of hiding I tried to make my way home and avoid the party, but I was spotted by some drunken ninja. I got run out by a mob from there it was same old, same old; bound and tortured 'til I passed out."

Quietly seething the third continued his investigation "…that still doesn't explain where you were found." "…Your shinobi need more training, they were sloppy…after struggling for a while I managed to free myself, then I crawled around for little longer filling my stomach with anything I could find. Going three plus days without food wasn't my best idea I guess."

"Neither was eating something you couldn't identify, you'll be in the hospital for the next three days." His questions answered the blonde asked the old man to thank his savior and went back to sleep as the Hokage left to return to his office. Outside the room the usual guards were feeling very frustrated, particularly a cat masked ANBU 'I have to find some way to help him!' Days later Naruto was back home where he found a book on survival training and cooking in his room.

**Flashback-end**

Thus a year and a half ago Naruto learned to cook and look after himself as far as food was concerned. Thanks to his now high nutrition diet he was growing well and had some money saved up, for the most part he lived off the land gathering stocks of water and food in the woods. He also spent his days learning from his tenant slowly mastering fuuinjutsu.


	2. Loved Ones

**Loved Ones**

Nodding to himself Naruto began to set up for dinner; he went into his room and started moving around the floorboards until he came upon a stash of scrolls. Retrieving two scrolls one marked cooking and the other marked water he replaced the floorboards and went back into the kitchen. He would probably be able to gather a lot more if he used these scrolls, but they were important to him it had taken him at least four months to learn to make these and it was even more troublesome to gather the materials needed to do so. Fuuinjutsu was no joke it took a lot of commitment and patience, regardless it was all he had left of his family and he was determined to master it.

Sealing scrolls sold for a decent price in the market, but these were invaluable to him. If he were ever cornered by the villagers they would be sure to take or destroy anything of worth he had with him; breaking into his apartment was still a common event so he made sure to seal and hide away everything important to him.

The blonde proceeded to unseal a few pots and pans along with a wooden spoon. Naruto then place the pots on a burner and filled them halfway with water. As the water came to a boil he tossed in some clovers along with some fireweed, in the next pot he tossed in a few dandelions. Moving to his cupboards he reached for a bowl and spoon luckily nobody had raid his place in a while. If they had he'd have to eat directly out of the pots, a few minutes later he drained the water from the first pot and spooned the herbs into his bowl. Naruto then set things down at his table and grabbed a cup and fork; taking the second pot off the burner he added the dandelions to the bowl and poured the now dandelion tea into his cup.

Dinner was ready and Naruto ate slowly savoring every bite, appreciating nature's bounty. Every now and then he had a sip of tea he had really developed a taste for it these past few months. He paused musing to himself as it occurred to him that this entire meal took about the same amount of time to make as instant ramen. Ironic considering this was much better for him he liked his ramen but it didn't do much for his health; in the short time since he changed his diet Naruto had developed somewhat of a lean physique. He was still kind of skinny since he didn't get much meat just the occasional left overs of a fresh kill.

All the same his current diet was highly nutritious and if he could get his hands on some weapons he could start hunting small game. Finishing up his salad he did the dishes and sealed everything up heading off to bed and hiding his scrolls.

* * *

The next day found the whiskered blonde stuffing some pennycress into his pocket as he stepped out of his apartment dressed in a white shirt a red flame and black pants with generic blue sandals. He walked quickly heading toward Ichiraku's in the mood for some good food and good company. It was early around fifteen minutes to seven so he could enjoy some time with the father daughter duo before more customers showed up.

Ducking under the flap Naruto greeted them merrily "Morning old man, spare two bowls for a growing boy?" he asked with a smile. Teuchi turned to the young blonde with a big grin "Sure, what'll you have Naruto?" As he sat down he relaxed a bit, but not completely since anyone could still walk into the stand "One beef bowl and one pork bowl please." "Coming right up, Ayame get pot boiling your favorite visitor's here!" the old shop owner called out to the back. Moments later Ayame stood before him with his ramen, before he could eat she struck his hand lightly with a ladle "…and where have you been, Naruto-kun?" she demanded in a stern tone of voice.

Slowly raising his head he responded with a sigh "Sorry nee-chan, as much as I like your company I don't like to hang around the village very much." At that Ayame relented and things settled into a comfortable silence with some small talk every now and then.

With his second bowl just about finished she asked the question that had been nagging at her since he arrived. It was about seven thirty and Naruto was fishing through his left pocket having sensed someone approaching the stand when Ayame spoke "Naruto-kun…what's so bad about the village?" This time Naruto looked her right in the eyes with a sad smile "I just don't belong here nee-chan; you guys are some of the only people to accept me. I really appreciate it, especially considering serving me is bad for business." The answer stunned her before she could say anything a new customer just outside the stand caught her attention.

While his sister was distracted Naruto quickly paid his tab leaving a nice tip as he slipped out just as their latest customer came in. Teuchi looked on with a heavy heart as Naruto left, but composed himself focusing on the newcomer "Hello, what would like?" the ramen chef greeted. The civilian curtly replied "One miso ramen."

Meanwhile Naruto made his way into the woods and went for a nice long walk. It was always so full of life out here whether it was the animals or the trees themselves. Out here he felt at piece there was no hate in this place, granted being barely seven he could still be killed out here. However, at least then it would be by the law of the lands 'survival of the fittest' if he died here some creature would make a meal of him and what was left would nourish the earth. Still he wouldn't give the villagers the satisfaction of celebrating his death, not while he still lived among them. None of that mattered now though, he just wanted to enjoy his time here so he spent the day alongside the different inhabitants of this wilderness nibbling on pennycress and bathing in rivers.

Night fell and nature boy decided to screw the journey back into the village and sleep beneath the stars. Putting his tenants' teachings into practice he channeled some chakra to his feet and strode up to a nice thick tree branch. Lying there bathed in the moonlight as he drifted off to sleep Naruto wondered about the girl who had saved him 'I hope she's doing well.' Within the Inuzuka Clan Compound the moonlight reached said girls' window. The past year or so had been a challenge, Hana had started training and her relationship with her pups had developed even more. That event last was still fresh in her mind and the Haimaru triplets were generally weary of the villagers when they left the compound.

Hana hadn't caught a scent of that boy since that day, the Hokage had given her his thanks and she had learned his name was Naruto. It seemed like Naruto had vanished though, it was maddening; she knew he was alright but she figured she would at least see him around despite what happened. To make matters worse she still did have any answers; when she asked the Hokage he seemed to dodge her questions and if she asked her mother she'd always say 'We'll talk about it when you're older honey.' No matter though she would find him she was sure of that in a few years her training would go into overdrive when she joined the academy. Hana grinned to herself getting comfortable in bed things were looking up she would start at the academy soon and her family was growing with upcoming addition of her new sibling.

Elsewhere the Ichiraku's had shut down for the night, but they wouldn't be getting any sleep until Ayame had her mind settled. She turned to her father as they entered the small apartment they had behind the stand "Father…what's wrong with Naruto, what did he mean by all those things he said?" asked a very concerned Ayame. Teuchi's shoulders slumped he had been dreading this conversation since the boy left the stand. He could see his daughter had been distracted since then, constantly turning her gaze to his seat which most customers seemed to avoid. A disgusted look etched itself onto the ramen chef's face "Naruto is…not well liked in the village, most of the village has always abused him." Teuchi said through gritted teeth.

Silence was all that followed his statement Ayame just couldn't understand, she couldn't imagine hurting her dear 'little brother' he was so sweet and sincere. Finding her voice again she shakily asked "…why?" her father looked away as he answered "…I'm sorry, but the Hokage has forbidden speaking of that…not even Naruto himself knows. That hasn't changed anything though; the poor boy has his own ward in the hospital." Ayame nearly broke down but she had one last question to ask.

"Is that why he visits us so rarely?" she spoke her voice little more than a whisper, when her father shook his head in the negative she shuddered at the feeling that things could get worse. "That's only part of the reason…" Teuchi said, a sad smile on his face "…the civilian council is against him. I've seen some of the few shops that treated him well go out of business because of it, he doesn't want to lose us; so he stays away to keep the village from turning against us." the Ichiraku elder explained seemingly growing older as the discussion went on and his daughter burst into tears. She cried herself to sleep, her father laying her down on the couch and spreading a blanket out over her before going to bed himself feeling worn out.

* * *

The next morning Naruto returned home albeit reluctantly. He sighed seeing the door had been broken down, everything was going so well since he'd seen some of his loved ones. Shutting his eyes for minute just to be sure he couldn't feel anyone still there, he walked into his apartment Naruto made a bee line for his room merely glancing over the damage he could hear Kyuubi growling in his mind. Checking over the floorboard he grinned, everything that mattered was safe; knowing that he left his room to get a better look at how bad things were. Inspecting the door he grumbled to himself "there go this months' savings." and walked out the door to the Hokage's Tower to see the Old Man about his allowance, it being the first of the month now.

Unfortunately, he couldn't really avoid the villagers on the path to the Hokage tower. He did however manage to avoid any major confrontations by making sure there was no routine we he made the trip; it was always at a different time of day. It was around noon so the market would be packed Naruto could work around that area without an issue. The troublesome part was when he eventually had to move back into the open, if he was spotted it would complicate his return. The whiskered jinchuuriki shrugged it off there wasn't much to return to, Naruto casually walked into an alley approaching the market district. He had grown used to this in his life it 'do' or 'do not' he had to see the Old Man today if only to be sure he was doing well.

Spending so much time away from village made it so that he rarely crossed paths with Hiruzen; none the less they could catch up with each other today and being anxious and in a rush would only draw unwanted attention. Naruto reached the critical point on his way to see the Old Man and turned back onto the main road making his way to the tower. He could hear footsteps gaining on him barely perceptible, meaning another ninja with a grudge luckily he made it into the tower's perimeter so whoever it was couldn't do anything without raising the alarm.

Naruto went on his way entering the building and climbing the stairs blatantly ignoring the receptionist, it would be pointless to deal with her she was just one among many in this village. Arriving at the Hokage's office he knocked getting the okay to come in.

* * *

**Hokage's Office**

"Hey Old Man, desk job treating you well?"

"Not as well as I'd like, but I'm still kicking. It's good to see your doing well."

Hiruzen was worried that he was seeing a lot less of the boy now, but he figured it was a good thing since the hospital also saw a lot less of him; being the Hokage kept him very busy so he rarely had the chance to check on Naruto.

"Good to hear someone's got to keep this place running." He said with a chuckle.

"Indeed, so what have you been up to since I last saw you?" Hiruzen asked.

"Living day by day, enjoying some time with the Ichirakus, maybe a bowl of ramen here and there." Naruto replied with a smile recalling yesterday.

"I'm glad would you like to go out for a bowl?" asked the Hokage with a grandfatherly smile.

Grinning the blonde said "Sure, but I'd hate to keep you from your work." gesturing to the stack of papers on his desk.

Hiruzen smirked and smoothly countered "All the more reason to take a break."

Thus they left the office laughing heartily as they headed for the ramen stand.


End file.
